Never a Widow
by lateVMlover
Summary: This is a short one shot that follows Oliver and Natasha. It would be helpful if you've read some of the others. It focuses on them as a couple, but it also features Felicity and Steve.


**This is for DarkyRawrz, who recently discovered my Avengers/Arrow stories and fell in love with Oliver and Natasha as a couple. I decided to write a new one-shot even though I thought I was done. This season of Arrow has been a vast improvement, so I was inspired. I hope you enjoy it. It begins a month after the birth of Felicity and Steve's son, which is a few months after "Oliver and Natasha." Although this is a standalone story, it is not meant to be read if you haven't read "Because You're Worth It" or "Oliver and Natasha."**

Never a Widow

 _*****New York City******_

Tony directed them to their targets. The Hulk, Clint, Sam, and Natasha moved like the perfectly oiled unit they were. Since Steve was now a married man living in Star City with his wife and son, Tony took point from the air, calling out orders. The Falcon was now an Avenger and usually joined them, especially if Thor could not. Occasionally, the Green Arrow would join them. The fact that he wasn't with them now was an obvious source of irritation for the Black Widow. He chuckled as she aggressively took down the Hydra agent.

"I'm so sick of dealing with these Hydra clowns," Natasha complained.

"You're just pining for your beau!" Tony teased.

Natasha didn't reply, lost in thought. Her distraction almost got her killed as Clint saw the agent pull a gun from her left. He pulled an arrow, ending the threat.

"Nat! Pay attention!" he scolded.

Natasha turned quickly and grumbled in annoyance. It was official. The man had her so tied in knots that she could barely function without him.

Two days later, she was back in Star City.

Oliver was at Steve and Felicity's playing with his nephew. Steve and Felicity had made Bucky and Pepper godparents. Felicity assured Oliver, Dig, Tony, Clint, and Thor that they could be honorary uncles. Of course, everyone knew that Dig, Roy, and Oliver were the ones she considered her brothers. The Avengers were Steve's family. Everyone was mostly happy after their initial disappointment. They all knew how much Bucky meant to Steve. That he was pardoned by the government and allowed to work with the Avengers and Rhody went a long way to restoring him to the man he used to be. Tony and Felicity worked with a neurologist to get rid of all the Hydra hardware left in his brain. He was back to being the friend Steve grew up with. They named their son James Stephen Rogers. Naturally, Tony called him Buck Rogers, insisting that it was too perfect a nickname to pass up. The more Felicity complained, the more the name seemed to stick. Currently, only Steve and Felicity called the baby James.

Natasha sent Oliver a text message when her plane landed. _I'm in town. Where are you?_

Oliver was holding the baby when his phone beeped. He grinned. "Nat's back," he told Steve.

"Good. Tell her to come over," he said.

Oliver handed the baby back to Steve, so he could use two hands to text her back.

 _Come to Steve's._

 _I'd rather see you naked in your bed._

Oliver's face felt hot as he read her reply. He got up quickly. "Ah, she wants to meet me at our place. We'll come by later," he said. He rushed out the door.

Felicity came in carrying a tray with drinks. She frowned to see a missing Oliver. "Where'd Oliver go?" she asked.

Steve snickered. "Nat is back in town. I think he went to see her at his place. Said he'd be back later," he explained.

"Oh," Felicity said. "Well, he could've said goodbye."

"I'm pretty sure he had other things on his mind!" Steve exclaimed with a grin.

Felicity was puzzled a minute until she looked at her husband's face and saw the look on it. "Oh!" she said in embarrassment. "Of course!"

"I'm happy for them. Oliver seems much happier now than when I first met him," Steve said.

Felicity sat the tray down on the coffee table and handed a drink to Steve. "He _is_ much happier. Your presence has relieved the burden of saving the city all by himself. He is in love with her, and Natasha has been so great for him!"

Oliver was thinking the same thing as he raced home. Natasha had officially moved in with him after the birth of Steve and Felicity's son. She gave up her place in New York, opting to crash at Stark Tower whenever she was there for work. Tony let her use his jet whenever a mission came up. She was tired, though, of being gone so much.

When Oliver came home, he was surprised to see the living room lit with candles. His girlfriend was in her black underwear on the couch waiting for him. When he came in, she gave him a saucy look.

"It took you long enough," she said.

"I came right over," Oliver said, kicking of his shoes and loosening his tie. He took it off as he bent over her to kiss her.

"I think you have entirely too many clothes on," she informed him, unbuckling his belt.

"I love smart women," Oliver said with a grin and helped her by stepping out of his pants as she ripped open his shirt. She liked to do that a lot. Luckily, Oliver had plenty of shirts.

An hour later, she was lying on his chest on the couch—they never made it to the bedroom. "I think we should get married," she said.

Oliver had almost drifted off to sleep when she spoke. Her words jarred him awake. "What?" he asked in surprise.

Natasha sat up and looked down at him. "I think we should get married," she said.

"Really?" Oliver asked, sitting up. His hands went to hers.

She nodded. "I'm ready to retire from the Avengers. They have enough members. Tony's finding new talent all the time. Bucky is there a lot of times now. There's even some kid in New York that climbs walls like a spider," she said.

"Retire?" he asked in surprise. "Seriously? You'd do that?"

"Well, I'm not going to sit at home and bake," she said pointedly. "I'll do something locally. Maybe join Steve at the SCPD or even ARGUS."

Oliver grimaced. "I don't think ARGUS would be retirement," he pointed out.

"Job isn't as important as the fact that I'm ready to settle down," she countered.

"I'd love that," Oliver said sincerely. "We can go ring shopping!"

Natasha grinned. "How about we celebrate our engagement some more?" she suggested, moving her hand down and grabbing hold of him.

Oliver's eyes widened. "Works for me!" he exclaimed and pulled her close for a kiss.

**** _The Next Day****_

Felicity and Steve came to Oliver and Natasha's place for dinner the next evening. Dig and Lyla were already there.

"This is a nice surprise," Felicity said, seeing the table was set up with dinner and no take-out boxes in sight. "You cooked?"

"I did," Natasha said.

"I order take-out," Oliver reminded her.

"I didn't see any boxes, so I was thrown!" Felicity said with a grin.

"We wanted you guys here to hear our news," Oliver said, putting his arm around Natasha. "She told me to marry her, and I said yes!"

Natasha elbowed him as she held out her ring. "It was my idea, but he bought me this ring!" she said smiling in satisfaction.

"Oh my God!" Felicity squealed. "I didn't think this was ever going to happen!"

"Good thing you told him to get the ring!" Dig teased, slapping Oliver on the back.

"It never occurred to me that she'd want to get married, or I would've asked her months ago!" Oliver insisted.

"Congratulations!" Lyla and Steve said, hugging the couple.

"We're going to the courthouse tomorrow," Natasha said.

"What?" Felicity asked in dismay. "You're not going to have a wedding?"

"I just want to be married, so I can settle down here full-time," Natasha told them.

"And I just want whatever she wants," Oliver said.

"But you have to have a wedding!" Felicity protested. "I know Thea will agree. We have to throw you a bachelor and bachelorette parties or at least an engagement party!"

Oliver hated to see Felicity disappointed and looked at Natasha, who shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is," she admitted.

"What if I can get a wedding thrown together in a week?" Felicity suggested.

"A wedding can't be pulled off in a week," Oliver said doubtfully.

"What if I can do it? Can we have a simple ceremony with a minister or judge that everyone can come to?" Felicity asked.

"I don't suppose it'd hurt. I'm sure Clint and Laura will want to come. He'll be my man of honor," Natasha said with a grin.

"Just to see his face when you tell him that will be worth it," Oliver said with a smirk. He and Clint got along okay, but there was a natural competitiveness between the two archers. Oliver hated that Clint was more experienced that him. Clint hated that there was someone else in Nat's life almost as good as him.

Felicity clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, there's so much to do! Let me get out my phone and start making lists!" she exclaimed.

"Honey, we came here for dinner," Steve gently reminded her.

"Oh," Felicity said, sitting down. "While we eat, you can tell me what you hate and like about other weddings you've been to. We can go wedding dress shopping tomorrow. Pepper will want to come down and go with us."

"Tony will be glad to throw the parties," Steve said knowingly.

"How about just one party for both of us? If Clint is her person, there's no need to separate the genders," Oliver pointed out.

"True," Felicity acknowledged.

Natasha wasn't sure what she had gotten herself in to, but the look of eager joy on Felicity's face kept her from taking back her agreement. She exchanged a glance with her fiancée who knew what she was thinking. It wasn't like Oliver was that good at saying no to the woman. Felicity had a way about her that drew everyone in. Natasha wasn't immune to her charm either.

"It'll be fine," Oliver said, squeezing her hand. "Look how happy she is. Thea will be just as happy."

"Why isn't Thea here?" Steve asked.

"She'll be here for dessert," Oliver said. "She couldn't make dinner and is bringing dessert. Roy will be with her."

"You didn't want to wait until she got here to share your news?" Lyla asked.

"I couldn't wait," Oliver admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Besides, I'm sure one of you highly intelligent guys would've noticed my ring!" Natasha said smugly.

"It's so beautiful," Lyla said. "Where did you get it? It looks like an antique."

"We went to the ring store, and she didn't find anything she loved that much," Oliver shared. "So I took her to the bank."

When their friends look confused, Natasha explained, "He has a safety deposit box full of pieces of jewelry."

"My mother's," Oliver shared. "Thea got most of them. Since they weren't part of the business, we didn't have trouble keeping them when I signed over my shares. My mother's ring was my grandmother's."

Natasha looked at it in admiration once more. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry. That it was a part of his family history made it more meaningful. She didn't have any such ties in her life.

"That's so great!" Lyla gushed.

"It really is," Dig agreed.

They enjoyed their dinner as Felicity peppered the with questions. Lyla suggested some shops they could go to.

"Location?" Felicity asked.

Oliver thought a moment. "Why don't we do it at my family's mansion? The grounds are extensive. Thea's kept it up since she inherited a fortune from Merlyn," she said.

"Are you going to live there?" Felicity asked.

"Not now. Maybe someday," Oliver said.

"It's too much of a house. It'd seem so empty with just the two of us," Natasha pointed out.

"Not so much when you have a family," Dig said.

Natasha got a grim look on her face but said nothing. Oliver put his arm around her shoulder and gave an easy smile. "No rush," he said.

Dig could tell that his remarks had upset Natasha and said nothing more.

Later, Oliver and he were clearing plates and taking them to the kitchen.

"Sorry, man, that I upset Nat," Dig said apologetically.

"It's not a problem," Oliver said dismissively. "She can't have kids. The Russians made sure of that when she was a teen."

Dig's eyes widened in dismay. "I'm sorry! That's just wrong, man!" he exclaimed.

"It is," Oliver agreed. "Maybe someday we'll adopt."

"Lot of kids out there that need love," Dig agreed.

"Don't say anything to Nat. It's not something she wants to talk about," Oliver said.

"No problem," Dig said.

The doorbell rang. "That must be Thea and Roy," Oliver said, going back to the dining room.

To say Thea was excited about the engagement was an understatement. When she discovered, though, they wanted to be married right away, she looked dismayed.

"No way! We need time to plan!" she insisted.

"You have a week," Oliver said.

"They wanted to elope. I assured them that we could pull off the wedding in a week," Felicity said. "Tomorrow we'll take her dress shopping. We're having it at your childhood home, so we don't have to worry about a location. I'll secure a caterer tomorrow. Fish or chicken?"

"Fish," Natasha said.

"Chicken," Oliver said. "I spent years on an island. I don't eat fish."

"I'll give you that one," Nat said with a wink.

"Colors?" Felicity asked.

"Like you have to ask," Thea said with a snort. "Black and green?"

The newly engaged couple grinned.

"Great!" Felicity said excitedly. "See this is happening! Thea will handle hiring the band. I'll order the flowers. Finding the dress will be the hardest part."

"Who do you want standing up with you?" Thea asked.

"I'd like you, John, to be my best man," Oliver said, holding out his hand to Dig.

"It'll be my pleasure," Dig said, grinning as she shook Oliver's hand.

"Roy and Steve can be groomsmen," Oliver said. "We can have Sara as the flower girl."

"Clint's youngest can be ringbearer," Natasha added. "Since he's my man of honor, Felicity, you and Thea can be bridesmaids."

"Well, I'm not a maid anymore, but sure! I'll be honored!" Felicity said happily.

"We can shop for our dresses while she looks for a dress tomorrow," Thea said excitedly.

"See, it's already coming together!" Felicity said smugly.

Oliver listened to his friends' excited chatter as his fiancée leaned against him on the sofa. "I can't believe this is actually going to happen so fast," he whispered.

"You know your sisters," Natasha said, smiling fondly at Thea and Felicity as they plotted. "There's nothing they can't do."

And in a week's time, everything was ready to go. The girls had found some attractive bridesmaids' dresses in a dark green. Clint and the groomsmen had matching bowties and cummerbunds. Of course, the show stopper and crowd pleaser was the bride.

About 150 of their friends and a few business associates gathered at the Queen's mansion the following Sunday afternoon to watch Natasha come down the aisle. Nick Fury rose from the dead officially so that he could walk her down the aisle. Barry Allen surprised everyone by singing for the couple before the vows were said. It was short and simple like the couple requested.

"You may kiss the bride," the justice of the peace said. As they kissed, Thor raised his hammer and had lightning strike, much to the guests' horror and glee.

Oliver gazed at his new wife in awe. "You'll never fight alone again," he said softly as he kissed.

Natasha found herself unusually moved by the entire process. Felicity and Thea's excitement had been contagious. They were right. Having a wedding was the best thing. As they were officially announced to the cheering audience, Natasha put her hand to his cheek. "You better never make me a widow!" she warned.

Oliver chuckled. "With our friends at our back, we'll live a nice long life," he said confidently.

Natasha took his hand as they walked down the aisle together, her eyes never left his.

Their life was going to be an amazing adventure.

 ********* _The End*****_

 _There may be a follow-up one shot. I hope you enjoyed this. Reviews are always appreciated and coveted! Thanks!_


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